With the new Mel Gibson "Passion" movie, there's been all this furor (or must it be furore) over antisemitism and "Jewish guilt over the crucifixion." I'm reluctant to comment on something so topical and controversial, but after presenting my case to a few acquaintances I feel safe that it is at least not totally asinine.

What I can't understand is why anyone would actually feel guity for the crucifixion, or why a Christian would be angry at anyone for it. If you were there for it, I could understand feeling guilty afterward, but now, the crucifixion has become practically the basis for the whole religion! Can you imagine what Christianity would be if it hadn't happened? A friend suggested sermons like "Jesus would have died for your sins, if given the opportunity" or perhaps "Jesus died of natural causes at a ripe old age...for your sins!" Certainly that one event not taking place wouldn't change (in the Christians' idea of God's eyes) the fundamental sinfulness of humans, so I don't think a Christian would believe that we'd all be living in the garden of Eden. Would Jesus have had the chance to convince the whole world of who he was while alive? Beyond here it gets difficult to contemplate, especially with my paucity of Biblical knowledge, and the ridiculousness of it all. But if anyone has ideas of how it might have turned out, or explanations of the anger and guilt that still supposedly exist, I welcome them. The idea of the crucifixion never happening might also make a good humorous story, perhaps a Dan Bern song.

Of course for the purposes of this entry I am ignoring the meaninglessness of Jesus, or anyone else who happens to be both God and God's son, "dying."